Title: Girl’s Just Wanna...
Series: General xover universe
Author: akire
Email: akire@mailcity.com
Status: C/U
Category: Crossover: Highlander/Relic Hunter/Tomb Raider and other
Spoilers: umm, got a basic grasp of the Highlander universe? Fine.
Relic Hunter, mention is made of a re-occurring character who first
appeared in ep 1.06 Transformation.' TR, we're just borrowing the
character.
Disclaimers: D/P and the rest really DO own them. If you don't
recognize it, it's probably mine. If it's silly or crazy, definitely
is mine. But if anyone sends the lawyers after me, I'm sending out the
boys with swords ;) Oh yeah, and imitation is the sincerest form of
flattery. If you recognize a specific fanfic creation, it belongs to
its author (when this series is finished, I may tally them up).
Rating: PG, prob. Hey, I'm not offended by much, if it should be rated
higher, tell me!
Content Warning: purists beware. Language may offend some readers.
Summary: A Girl's Weekend, Immortal-style
Dedication: To Goddess Jules, lesser Goddess Emily and Queen
Lisa...cos this reminded me of the time we got our harem together.
On with the show!
~~##~~
"Next time we have a girl's week away," Amanda grumbled as she pulled
herself bodily over the ledge. "We're all booking into the fanciest
hotel in Paris and getting pedicures." Kneeling on the ledge, she
inspected her nails. "Manicures too."
Reia took a drink from her canteen. "Where's your sense of adventure?"
"In Paris," Amanda retorted sourly. "Getting a manicure and facial,
drinking fine champagne, and basically staying as far away from you
three lunatics as possible." Pushing herself to her feet, she took the
proffered canteen. "Why the hell did I let you guys talk me into this,
anyway?"
"The one million dollars in prize money I believe was the clinching
argument." Smirking in her unique way, Reia returned the bottle to its
pouch and began heading towards the dark rift in the cliff face. "Syd,
Lara, how's it look."
"A good fifteen metre drop," Sydney reported back, her eyes focussed
down an angled shaft. "Lara's rappelling down to see if there's an
easier way out. Otherwise we'll be climbing all the way."
Muttering something about nail technicians, Amanda appeared on Sydney's
left. "There's always an easier way...I'm just afraid my definition of
easy and Lara's definition of easy might not exactly match."
Any further griping was cut off as the rappelling line jerked once then
went slack. Watching like hawks, all three girls saw the series of
tugs and flicks reverberate up the line. "That's the sign. Let's
drop."
One by one, with practiced ease, they connected their harnesses to the
line and rappelled down the increasingly steep slope through to a large
cavern. Sydney was the last down. "Love what they've done with the
place," she commented with dry sarcasm as she moved to stand with her
friends. They had landed on a large single slab which was mere inches
above the water line. Before them, mirror-smooth, was a great lake.
Lara knelt down on the edge and tentatively tasted the water. "Fresh,
must be spring fed."
"The question, dear Lara, is how do we cross it?" Reia paced the
'shore,' eyes burning into the gloom, hoping to identify their
objective for this leg of the course.
"No," Amanda said slowly. "The question is, do we need to cross it."
She almost preened as three pairs of eyes turned to her. "You guys
must play too many computer games or something, you never look behind
you." She gestured to the wall facing the lake.
As one, the other trio followed her gaze. "What?"
Amanda snorted. "Are you blind? Watch and learn." Moving over to the
wall, she began randomly moving rocks and tracing her fingers along
natural cracks and fissures in the stone. With a pneumatic hiss, the
entire rock face slid apart.
Amanda took in their amazed expressions. "In my line of business, you
learn to spot a false wall a mile away."
Sydney gestured with her hand at the vanishing wall. "But how did you
know how to open it?"
Amanda's faint blush was almost lost in the gloomy light. "Umm..."
Reia snorted. "Trial and error?"
"Something like that," she shrugged.
Lara into the doorway, shining her torch into the darkness beyond.
"Okay, lets go, but keep your eyes open."
Stretching out into a well-spaced single file, the foursome edged
deeper into the hidden chamber, their torches playing randomly across
the almost featureless room. "Is there anything in here, or is it a
dead end?" Reia asked from her position at the back of the line.
Lara smiled into the darkness. "Oh, there's something here all right,"
she replied in her clipped tones. Slowing to a halt, she directed her
torchbeam onto a niche in the far wall. The tiny rose-coloured crystal
reflected the light around the room. "I believe that's what we came
for?"
Amanda stepped up to Lara's elbow, a low whistle on her lips. "Pretty.
Can we get it and get out now, please?"
Instead of just grabbing the crystal, the foursome began searching for
traps, edging in slowly but steadily towards their goal.
Bypassing lasers and disabling pressure pads were easy work, and soon
they were ready to take their prize.
Reia dug into her pocket for the lead deadweight. They weren't leaving
anything to chance. "Amanda, do you want to do the honours?"
Smirking prettily, Amanda stretched out her hand to receive the drop of
lead before stepping up to the niche. Slowly she extended her hands
into the small space, preparing to...
The snatch and switch was so fast her three witnesses saw only a blur
of motion. Cockily, Amanda turned back to them. Instead of a grey,
lifeless piece of lead, she held in her hand the small rose crystal
which gleamed under the light of their torches. "Very pretty," she
clarified with relish. "And very real. Diamonds are a girl's
best friend."
"Indeed," Reia agreed. "Can we go get cashed up now?"
A male voice answered her. "No. Sorry."
The quartet turned, startled at the unexpected presence. "Hello,
Derek," Sydney said with a snaky hiss in her tone.
Derek Lloyd was an old adversary of Sydney's, with ties to the US
government. Sydney had nearly withdrawn as soon as she had seen his
name on the entrant's list, memories of her kidnapping last year at
government hands still too fresh. It had taken a lot of cajoling (and a
bit of blackmailing) from Lara and Reia to get her to remain in the
contest.
Behind Derek they could see the three shadowy figures of his team.
"Hello Sydney, what a pleasant surprise. I missed you when you left
LA. Thank you so much for opening the door for us. Now," he smiled a
smile that made all four Immortal's want to hit him. "If you don't
mind." He stepped towards Amanda, hand out. "The diamond, if you
please?"
Amanda shrugged, covering her desperate scan of the room for options.
"Uhh...NO!" With that, she threw the diamond in a high arc towards the
roof, simultaneously bringing up one booted foot squarely between
Derek's stride-separated legs.
Even as he went down retching, Amanda was springing over his collapsing
form, heading for the exit and the redhead bounding away before her.
Reia had a good five metre head-start on the thief, and her long stride
was covering the ground effortlessly. One of Derek's henchmen jumped
towards her, guessing correctly that it was she who had caught the
diamond.
Dropping the stone down the front of her shirt, she broke stride to
grab the attacking henchman by the scruff of his neck, using his own
momentum to push his greater mass past her and solidly into the wall.
As he went down, unconscious, Reia turned to Amanda, who had drawn
level. "Guess these walls aren't fake."
Amanda unceremonially dipped two nimble fingers down Reia's cleavage to
retrieve her precious cargo. "Less talk, more action," she ordered the
redhead.
Tossing off a jovial salute, Reia turned back to the action, securing
Amanda's escape. They all knew that Amanda would be the slowest back
up the ropes, and were each working to secure her a good head start.
Besides, who would want to miss the chance to beat up on the idiots who
thought they could take their prize?
Reia jogged two metres back towards the niche, a pout already forming
on her lips. "No fair, mine went down without a fight!"
Lara shrugged and stepped over the unconscious form of henchman number
two. "And they did? Please!" Tossing a look over her shoulder, she
called out. "Sydney? Are you coming?"
Syd was ferreting through Derek's pack. "Yes, just a minute." She
looked up, tossing her hair casually over her shoulder as she
continued. "I'll meet you at the ropes."
Confused, but trusting, Lara and Reia headed back through the open
false door to stand by the ropes. A long minute later, Sydney walked
backwards out of the cave, trailing a length of fishing line behind
her.
"Where did you get that?"
Sydney smiled. "Derek's pack. I thought he'd carry something to lay a
trap with. Ready?" Without waiting for their answer, she gave the
line a sharp tug and began reeling in the lead weight. Seconds after
she dragged it clear, the false wall slid back into place.
Reia crowed in delight as she clapped her hands together. "Oh, that's
wonderful!" She then turned to Lara. "A nice dark wait in a sealed
cavern should be good for them."
Sydney turned back from where she was helping Lara begin her ascent.
"Dark?"
Reia flashed her favourite grin. "Well, Lara and I figured, with their
concussions and whatnot, they probably wouldn't appreciate all that
torchlight. So we kindly took them away for the lads. And they were
those nice expensive ones..." She shrugged and pointed to the lake.
Sydney's eyes sparkled. "You didn't!?"
Reia shrugged. "They're advertised as being waterproof, aren't they?"
Leaving the rest hanging, she hooked herself up and began to climb to
the surface.
~~##~~
"To us!" Giggling wildly, Amanda leant forward to chink her glass
against the others. "Pink champagne for the winners of the pink
diamond challenge." Relaxing backwards with the elegance of a queen
reclining on a throne, Amanda sipped at the bubbly drink. "Now this is
more like it! What do you girls think? The brilliant red, or perhaps
a slightly darker shade?"
Looking over from where she was getting a manicure, Reia scrutinized
Amanda's toes carefully. "Brilliant red, so bright we can see it when
you're wearing socks! You've got magnificent feet, darling, show them
off."
Wordlessly, Sydney walked over to Reia and removed the bottle of
champagne that she had somehow latched on to by herself. Reia watched
it go with half a pout, but then shrugged to herself and picked up her
fork with her un-manicured hand. After savouring another bite of her
raspberry cheesecake, she looked around to find Lara walking back
towards the group, her long hair wet and twisted up in a fluffy white
towel.
"Hey Lara, how long were the lads in that cave before the contest
marshals let them out?"
Lara settled herself in the next seat along. "They followed the rules
to the letter – no one could be released from a trap, unless in mortal
danger, until the end of the contest."
Amanda tilted her head back to look at the Irish woman. "But didn't
the last team cross the finish line a week after we did?"
Lara nodded, barely managing to control her grin. "Yes, a school group
doing it as a fundraising challenge. I believe they raised nearly four
thousand dollars towards a new computer lab." She accepted a plate of
cheesecake. "Good thing Derek had all those delicious freeze-dried
ration bars," she told Amanda with a snicker.
Reia chewed on her cheesecake for a moment, listening to Amanda and
Sydney laugh and cat-call. "Did you get the name of the school?" she
asked the woman beside her, sotto voce.
"I sent all the details to one of your accountants."
"Thankyou." Waggling her fork in the air, she called to Sydney for
more champagne as she began the difficult task of choosing which colour
nail polish to wear.
"So," Amanda asked as the technician began painting her toes. "What
are we going to spend the money on?" She chortled to herself. "One
million dollars! What a spending spree we could have with that!" The
other three looked at each other. "What?" Amanda asked quickly. "What
haven't you told me? You said the prize for winning was one million
dollars!"
Reia nodded. "That's true. We just never said we were keeping the
money."
Sydney grinned and added. "Do you have a favourite charity, or shall
we just pick them out of the phone book?"
Amanda had frozen in her seat, her entire body screaming disbelief at
being had so easily. "I broke a nail so you could give the money to
charity?" She shook her head. "Un-fucking-believable. I expected
better than that from you, Rei." She shook her head sadly as the wide-
eyed technician tried desperately to look like she wasn't
eavesdropping. "I mean, seriously girls, who are we? Robin Hood?"
Lara tossed her freshly dried hair over her shoulder. "No. We look
better in tights."
Amanda glared for a moment before collapsing into a fresh bout of
giggles.
~~##~~
The camera shutter whirred and clicked in the confines of the parked
van. In an orderly progression, the photographer moved from one woman
to the next, taking several pictures of their faces as they laughed and
joked behind the glass. Behind him, the slightly tinny microphones fed
their voices into a recorder.
"Have we got identification yet?"
The photographer paused to nod affirmative. "That's the one we had in
LA. The brunette and the blonde match the descriptions from the final
breakout before they blew the place. We haven't got an ID on the
redhead yet."
The first voice listened impassively. "Keep working."
As the camera resumed clicking in counterpoint to the, he dialed a
number and organised for surveillance to follow the four women. They
had been careless, and it had given him the lead his superiors so
desperately needed.
They would have their Immortal test subject yet.
~~##~~